Mother's Day

...and planets! See below.

A lovely day for me and for once it didn't rain. These are the presents I received- a silk brooch from my daughter, FirehorseMia, and two pieces of glass from my son, aliveunwed. The glass on the left is a Kosta Boda Snowball, a wonderfully irregular piece that flashes a white light. The jug has a cube pattern. I'm looking forward to experimenting with these additions to my glass collection.

The brooch was made by Briar Cook when she was living inside the cordon following the February 22nd earthquake in Christchurch. This was a very strange experience, with the Army patrolling the streets in LAVs, a 5pm curfew and not being able to go anywhere without photo ID. Unfortunate people who didn't have a driver's licence or passport could not get to their homes or leave the cordon and get back. Some lost their ID when they abandoned bags etc. during the earthquake. I heard of one elderly gentleman who was interrogated when he went down the street to the portable toilet.


Planets. This morning (glory hallelujah!) there was a break in the clouds for the first time in a couple of weeks and I saw the four planets. I took my camera, tripod and wireless remote and walked out on dark roads to get away from street lamps and overhead wires. It was so quiet. No traffic or anybody about. The birds were still asleep. I took several photos and I've put the best one in my Blipfolio. It is not marvellous, but I was thrilled to get four planets in one frame. At the top is Venus and Mercury, in the centre Jupiter, and at the bottom, melting into the dawn is Mars.